My first Classic Beef Burger made on a grill.

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My first Classic Beef Burger made on a grill.
This time with link:
http://ostwestwind.twoday.net/stories/3680692/

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This is a subject I am tremendously passionate about, so I thought I would share my thoughts on what I believe makes the ultimate USA burger!

1)either 75/25 or 80/20 lean ground beef, but no less than that. Ground sirloin, although delicious, doesn't make for the "perfect" burger because it's too darned lean to be soft and flavorful like ground beef that has a little fat in it

2)the ground beef should have some seasonings mixed in the meat- I like pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, sometimes seasoning or regular salt...

3)The bun is CRITICAL- too soft and it falls apart and won't hold the large # of toppings needed to make a burger happen. On the other hand, a super hard (sourdough) bun causes everything to squirt out one end while you try to bite in the other. And like all burgers, it will be HUGE so trying to get your mouth around a giant bun will make you look like David Hasslehoff in that recent video! I have been personally a big fan of an onion-based kaiser roll that I get from the local Safeway Bakery made fresh that day. Strong enough to hold a lot of toppings but yielding enough to allow you to bite through it without everything displacing through the back of the sandwich!

4)The sauces are critical for me: NO BBQ SAUCE ON A BURGER! The ultimate burger requires: ketchup, mayo, mustard and thousand island dressing. Plain Yellow mustard is also critical, fancy mustard belongs on a ham sandwich not a burger!

5)What to top it with? Lettuce(green leaf), pickles(dill slices), onions(THIN-I mean tissue paper thin-Red Onion Slices), and BACON. Yessssss I left out the tomato, I am not a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches period. I am sure some of you out there will insist on the tomato. Just leave it off of mine thank you. Bacon takes an ordinary burger and raises it up just a particular level. Cheese is critical as well; I think if I had to have one on my "ultimate" burger it would be a thick, gooooooooooey slab of cheddar. But if people wanted to argue anything from american to monterey jack I can't aruge-- I just strongly believe that Bleu cheese has no place on a burger the same way that dijon mustard belongs on a ham sandwich. To me, the burger is an american/german thing and what does a french cheese have any place being on such a treasured piece of americana such as an ultimate burger? I have liked mushrooms on burgers as well, but with all that stuff on there you'll never be able to fit it all, and I hate to have to make a choice between these other critical ingredients vs mushrooms which I have always thought were a nice touch but not critical to making an ultimate burger...Grilled onions are fantastic but I usually save them for my patty melts which are another subject entirely!

6)The ultimate burger is always a double-decker deal with two patties. It just is because one patty is just one patty. Two patties helps make it ultimate.

The burgers need to be made on a BBQ grill, not on a stove grill. They need to have "done" stripe marks on each side and indentations on them from the grill. They should be off the grill sizzling and served with fries and a coke.

Man, I just made myself hungry and it's still a # of hours before lunch!

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